


Magician's Fox Friend

by Elkian (SuperImposed)



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Drabble, Gen, Multi, Nonbinary Character, Other, Panic Attacks, of a sort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-17
Updated: 2019-04-17
Packaged: 2020-01-15 09:16:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18495928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SuperImposed/pseuds/Elkian
Summary: The Apprentice is a little different. Things are a little different. But they're ready for this.





	Magician's Fox Friend

**Author's Note:**

> I did this sometime last year and upon rereading, found it to be satisfactory to post. I may do more later but tbh I forgot everything I didn't write down because ADHD is a dang liar.
> 
> Some spoilers for overall story, no particular route (poly? poly).
> 
> Warning: A very brief reference to, uh, skinning people. 
> 
> (That, of course, is the one point I DIDN'T forget entirely.)

 

 

“Asra.” He looks up at you, as you cock your head to the side, smelling, listening, thinking.

 

“What is it?”

 

Your eyes slide shut. “Myrrh. Safe. Friend.” You’re better now, can put sentences more together, more completely, but you don’t need to for this. It’s that simple.

 

“Really?” He gives you a look you can’t read and goes to open the door.

 

A big person is there, furs and the tang of old metal and myrrh. He scowls, but you know the smell. _Safe_.

 

“Muriel.” Asra smiles, aura soft, scent soft, and ushers the big man in. He looks back at you. “I asked Muriel to look after you while I’m gone, Thaya.”

 

You wilt. “Leaving again?”

 

He nods, smile going sad, as he picks up his hat. “Will you be okay with Muriel? I promise he’s nice,” he adds quickly, and Muriel gives him a Look, but you’re already nodding.

 

“Muriel. Smells like myrrh, like safety, like friend.” Myrrh, you know, is common in protective spells, but the scent with _him_ makes you think _safe_ in a way that has nothing to do with its magical applications. You’re smiling and Muriel gives you an odd look, but you can’t help it.

 

You don’t know him, but he smells like a friend.

 

\---

 

“Oh spirits, it’s okay, it’s _okay_ ,” and he sure doesn’t sound like he means it, you can barely breathe, clutch his clothes, blood in your mouth in your nose, can’t breathe _cant breathe_ , “Thaya, _Thaya_ , please, please, breathe with me. Breathe with me.”

 

You press your face into Asra’s chest and inhale, in with him, out with him; your breath stutters, can’t hold it, panic taking you, his hands on your back, and you breathe, breathe, breathe.

 

In with him.

 

Out with him.

 

In with him.

 

Out with him.

 

In with him.

 

Hold.

 

Out with him.

 

He pulls-leads you into a meditation pattern, breathing with him til your eyes shutter shut, headache slowly pulsing softer, not arresting so much of your brain that your heart can’t even beat, lungs even pull.

 

“It was too soon,” he whispers into your scalp, fingers in your hair, ruddy black-maroon sticky with sweat and tears, “too soon again. Don’t force it, okay? Don’t force it.”

 

You don’t know what he’s talking about. You’re asleep.

 

\---

 

The dream is a good dream. You run through a field, golden stalks brushing your shoulders, your hips. The sweet wind blows through your pelt, cooling your back, ruffling and tickling you, and a huffing giggle leaves your muzzle.

 

You bound through the grain, listening to the night sounds. A thrush here, a rabbit there. Humans have a picnic, giggling drunkenly, you give a wide berth. Their happiness warms the center of your chest, giving more joy to your loping, bounding steps-

 

You wake up, tears in your eyes, clutching blankets the wrong texture. You can’t remember what you dreamed. It was bittersweet, strong to both - the agonized longing for a better time freezes your heart in your chest, though for what you have no idea.

 

It’s going to be a long day.

 

\---

 

“Do you remember him?” Asra is asking.

 

You cock your head to the side. Even before he spoke, you were thinking… listening…. smelling.

 

“Myrrh-iel,” you murmur, laughing when he scowls and Asra chuckles. “Muriel. I remember… something. It’s in pieces, but you seem… safe.”

 

\---

 

“Thaya!” Asra dives forward, catching his ‘apprentice’ as they fall. The goat hisses something unpleasant and disappears, but he’s far beyond caring.

 

“What did he say? Something about transformations…?”

  
“Devorak,” Countess Nadia cuts him off, approaching the pair. “More to the point, what did he do to them? If he’s hurt them...” her eyes turn sharp and cold, and even Julian shudders a little.

 

“They’re breathing,” Asra says, “I think they’re...” He looks back to Julian. “Transformations.”

 

“Can I help?” Julian steps forward, throat glowing, but Asra throws up a hand, expression suddenly urgent.

 

“No! No, if this is what I think it is...” he looks to Thaya, then to Nadia. “Transformation. It’s not what he did to them - at least not right now. You both saw, right? It looked like _they_ took something from _him_.”

 

The pair nod, Julian backing off hesitantly, and he continues, “I think they may have… _regained_ something. It would certainly explain a few things,” he says, more to himself, and Thaya’s head comes up. “Thaya?”

 

Their eyes slit open, and the distant pair hiss, Julian’s visible eye going wide, the Countess growing still. “That’s… the pl-”

 

“It’s not the plague,” Asra says, a little sharply. “Thaya, how do you feel?”

 

“Ngh. Fuzzy.” They shake their head, maroon-black hair flying all over. Their eyes, the deep brown irises now the color of cedar, the sclera red as a jewel, slowly focus on him. “I feel like… something came back to me. Something- ngh!” They curl up, fingers clawing at the close neck of their cloak, and Asra hurries to loosen it. “What’s…?”

 

“Thaya? Does it feel like something’s trying to happen?”

 

“Ngh…..”

 

“Thaya. Can you hear me? I need you to listen.”

 

“Ah… I hear you,” they say, red-tinted eyes going glassy, fingers clutching his shirtfront for dear life as he loosens their cuffs, their belt.

 

“If it feels like something is trying to happen, let it happen. If it feels like something isn’t happening, don’t force it. Whichever way it goes, don’t force it. Let it happen. Do you understand?”

 

“Ah… I think...”

 

“Yes?”

 

They tilt their head up, eyes red and shining, mouth gaping, “I think it’s going to happen.”

 

A faint, fond smile touches Asra’s face for a moment. He rubs their upper arms and says “Then let it. It’s okay, I have you.”

 

“I know. I- aaaaahhh- aaaaaAAAAAAAAA _AAAAAAAAAAAA_ **_AAAAAAAAAAOOOOOO_ ** **_OOOOOOOOOOOO-_ ** ” the dire cry carries on and _on_ , their body convulsing, Asra supporting but not holding them, his lavender eyes bright and wide and just a little scared; the doctor and the countess stare, both clearly wanting to move forward, to help, but- and then- and then-

 

Thaya _bursts_ upwards, hair lengthening- no- they go from a roughly 6-foot-tall human to something the same color as their hair, more than 8 feet long, a bushy tail of nearly the same length coiling around the clearing, in a literal instant.

 

“That’s- oh my god-” Julian gapes, knees going weak for a moment; Nadia grabs him without looking, mahogany eyes locked on the scene before them.

 

“A beastskin…?”

 

Asra turns to them, tapping a finger to his lips. “Give them a moment,” he says softly, “it’s been a long time - I’m sure they’re disoriented.”

 

It’s been three years, and he didn’t know they were _stuck_ , that Lucio had taken that from them, or he would have done something much sooner, but this isn’t the time for regrets.

 

Thaya’s true form -?- circles around him, pure-red eyes lighting on him, perenially-loose clothing wrapping around their new-old body - and thank goodness they still favored those kinds of outfits!

 

“A fox…?” Julian murmured at the same moment Nadia mused, “A jackal?”

 

Their body was maroon, and long, like a fox mixed with a snake, like a caricature of a wolf, like a seal-point jackal, tips of the long ears and long tail and dainty feet almost pure black. Asra carefully raised his hands to either side of their jaw as they investigated him, their enormous ears twitching with interest.

 

“Do you know who I am, Thaya?”

 

The beast looked at him, ruby eyes shining in the gloomy forest. Its mouth creaked open, huge and wide like a laugh - Nadia and Julian tensed - and a pink tongue as long as his forearm swiped up Asra’s face with a wet sound.

 

The magician stared at the creature for a moment before breaking into laughter. He tried to comb down the licked-up lock of hair as he stood, beckoning to the others.

 

“I think it’s going to be okay. Just… move slowly for a bit, okay?”

 

The pair looked at each other, nodded, and cautiously approached.

 

Nadia slipped off a riding glove and offered her hand. “Dear magician. Do you recognize me?”

 

Julian made a little ‘ngk!’ sound in his throat as a head the size of his torso swung around to examine her. But all that happened was the pointed muzzle dipping down, cold nose brushing the backs of her knuckles, short whiskers tickling her skin.

 

The Thaya-beast whuffed and let their mouth loll open; Asra chuckled. “That’s a smile, for Thaya,” he clarified, resting one hand on the long, luxuriously-furred neck. A faint frown creased his features. “Usually I can hear them as I do Faust, but… perhaps it’s just been too long. I’m sure it will come back to- whichever of us.”

 

“Ooh, what about me?” Julian said, adding “sorry” sotto voce when Thaya winced, ears flicking irately at his over-enthusiastic tone. He went ramrod when they turned to him, melodramatic pose turned marble as they sniffed him.

 

The doctor _squeaked_ as a cold, wet nose pressed against his neck, jumped back and clamped a hand over the spot. Thaya _whuff_ ed at him, tongue lolling out of their gaping mouth. “Are you _laughing_ at me? Goodness.”

 

Asra let loose a tiny sigh of relief, letting his hand slide down to their clothed shoulder area. “They’re still quiet, but I think it’s safe to move on.”

 

Nadia nodded and gestured at the path, watching with an amused expression as the beastskin went bounding down it like a pup. She then turned to Asra. “So… they are a beastskin.”

 

He smiled wanly. “Going to arrest them?”

 

She waved a hand at him. “Hardly. I didn’t expect this… but it makes sense, now that I think of it.”

 

“Beastskin? Is that like peltbearer?”

 

Asra nodded. “Beastskin, peltbearer, wildshape - someone who can turn into something like an animal, typically, though there are plenty of outliers.”

 

“And Thaya turns into a…. weasel-wolf.”

 

“I don’t know what, if anything, their natural form is called, but I’ve always seen them as a fox.” _You would; you have an affinity for foxes, don’t you, Asra?_ a voice very like a certain card’s said in his mind’s ear. _Mischievous, playful, friendly, mysterious… no wonder._

 

“I can see that, I suppose,“ Julian said, then did a double-take. “Wait… that red pelt in your shop...”

 

Asra smirked at him, breaking into a laugh at the absolute horror on the man’s face. “They shed a pelt every few years - when we first met, their natural form was barely larger than you.” His expression darkened. “There are some who hunt such people for their skin, however...”

 

“Not in Vesuvia,” Nadia said, voice a whipcrack in the still forest air. Thaya paused their leaping, landing with all four paws neatly clustered, and turned back to the group. “If not already, then never in the future. I will assure it.”

 

Asra smiled fondly at the Countess. “I believe you. And thank you.”

 

\---

 

“Whoa!” Julian’s arms are reassuringly steady as he grips you, swiftly dragging you out of the ballroom into the relatively-quiet hall. “Are you alright? What is it? It looks like you have a case of the vapors...”

 

“Thaya?” Asra, his resplendent costume muddy in your blurred vision, follows at speed. “What’s… oh no, I forgot,” his cool hand brushes your brow.

 

“What is it?” Julian repeats, still supporting you more than you are.

 

“Too… much,” you manage, feeling raw and overwhelmed. Asra says something, you’re not sure what - and then his scarf is pressed over your face, blocking out the colorful lights and shining costumes and _smell._ You take a deep breath of the old wool - it smells like the magic shop and _him_ \- and manage to pull it away, blinking at the pair- the trio.

 

Nadia frowns. “What’s wrong?”

 

Asra sighs softly. “I forgot - the Masquerade is difficult for Thaya to attend, due to the overwhelming amount of sensory input… in the past we typically stuck to the gardens and the quieter areas.”

 

Julian’s looking down at you, with an expression you’ve learned to be wary of. “Hmm… I may have an idea. Back in a wink!” he chirps, handing you over to Nadia, who helps you stand without question.

 

The Countess raises an eyebrow and watches his retreat. “Should we be concerned?”

 

“With Ilya? ...probably.”

 

The pair seclude you in a quiet section of hall, and surprisingly soon, Julian returns, waving…

 

“A mask?” Asra asks, taking it with only a faintly wrinkled brow when the doctor bestows it upon him.

 

“I thought I saw - the costumers didn’t have a _perfectly_ authentic plague mask, but it’s close enough for our purposes.“

 

”That’s right… the doctors stuffed herbs and roses into the beaks, to prevent plague fumes from reaching them, yes?”

 

Julian grins at the Countess. “Indeed! Now, stuffing an entire scarf into the beak is a little much, but if you don’t mind me snipping some squares-”

 

“Or we could use this,” Asra says mildly, pulling out one of his many handkerchiefs. You remember him going through _many_ of the pocket squares, back when you were first getting a handle on your magic - early accidents tended to be… messy.

 

“Or, er, we could do that,” Julian concedes, wilting slightly, and flushes when Nadia chuckles.

 

“I think I can arrange a suitably matching costume,” she says, pulling away - she needs to make an appearance anyways. “A very _loose_ one, yes?”

 

“A loose- yeah,” you say, stumbling as you process her comment. “Thank you.”

 

“Of course, my dear.”

 

\---

 

Searching is more difficult when you can’t put your nose to work, but easier when you’re not fainting from your nose being _over_ worked. You and Julian swan about the place, occasionally trading off with Asra or relieving Nadia (who very nearly, but somehow did not, have a woman arrested for complaining about shrimp).

 

And then there’s….

 

“Muriel?”

 

Julian looks at you, then casts about the garden you’d ducked into for a moment of respite. “It’s just us, I thiiiiAAA-”

 

“Quiet,” Muriel grunts, plastering a hand over the doctor’s mouth until he stifles the yelp and nods. Muriels turns to you. “Something bad is coming.”

 

It must be, to make him come to such a busy place. “What is it?”

 

“Don’t know.” He frowns, and you realize he’s _afraid_ , and if nothing else THAT makes you worry.  “It’s linked to… _him_. Not sure how. Strong.” He looks at you, fear shining in his dark eyes, for all you know that he distrusts and dislikes you. “Be careful.”

 

“I will. Thanks for coming all this way to tell us.”

 

\---

 

You weren’t careful.

 

You didn’t have a choice, but you should have guessed the danger, should have- none of your powerful senses or great magic did anything at all to prevent this, and now you float, separate from the world, feeling cast adrift.

 

And there _he_ is.

 

\---

 

Shadow foxes flit around the room as they converse in hushed tones. Portia, standing sentinel by the door, startles when one approaches her, then leans in and pets it. “That’s so weird,” she mumbles, as you feel a faint frisson of warmth stroke over your head for an instant.

 

“Thaya,” Asra calls you, gaining your attention. “We have a plan - not the best, but better than nothing.”

 

“We think we can send you into another plane, one of the realms of the Major Arcana,” Nadia elborates.

 

“Risky. But better than staying like this,” Muriel adds, looking away with a guilty expression the moment your shadowy form blinks at him.

 

You kneel, whispering in Inanna’s ear. _Tell him it’s not his fault, he did his best_ . You look at the varied stricken expressions on those beloved faces. _Tell them all_ , you add, nodding at her, then at Faust. The python wriggles up Asra’s arm, and you can’t hear what she says to him, but his tight expression loosens after a few moments.

 

“Are you ready?” Julian glances between your faint shape and the closed double doors, the only barrier between your private party and the chaos without. “I can’t imagine it’s better for you to stay like this any longer...”

 

“It’s not,” Asra confirms, holding a hand out to you. You place one shadow-hand-paw in it, the other in Nadia’s, her smile growing more genuine as her forehead mark blazes to life. “Let’s do this.”

 

You let yourself go, plunged into the other world.

  
_Okay,_ you think, _bring it on._


End file.
